Korey Williams named to Butkus Award Watch List

HATTIESBURG, Miss. - Southern Miss junior linebacker Korey Williams has been selected to The Butkus Award Watch List announced today. He is the lone Conference USA representative on the list.

Williams established a Southern Miss single-season record last season with 77 assisted tackles and led the squad in total stops with 121. He also posted 11 tackles for loss and 7.5 sacks to go along with three forced fumbles and two recoveries. He was named to the preseason All-C-USA team by the league's head coaches.

Instituted in 1985, The Butkus Award is one of the elite individual honors in college football. This year, The Butkus Foundation, a 501c3 non-profit organization, takes stewardship of the award and comes home to Chicago to fully realize the original purpose of honoring athletic achievement and service to the community while honoring the nation's best high school, college, and professional linebackers. An independent Butkus Award Selection Committee, headed by Pro Football Weekly's Hub Arkush and comprised of 51 experts including professional, college and high school scouts, and prominent sports journalists, will conduct the selection process.

In 2008, Butkus took stewardship of the Award with the intent to support the "I Play Clean campaign" aimed at educating the youth of America and the world on the dangers of performance enhancing drugs. On top of honoring the top collegiate linebacker, recognized since1985, the Butkus Foundation began to pay tribute to the top linebacker at the high school and professional levels.

The Butkus Committee is comprised of 51 voters stemming from the NFL, college and high school ranks, including many NFL general managers and head coaches, NCAA head coaches and defensive coordinators and seasoned NFL talent evaluators who have been heavily exposed to the nation's top linebackers. The committee was initially constructed to equally represent all regions of the country to eliminate any bias. Neither Dick nor any of his family are members of the committee.